Monday August 18, 2025 at 6:23pm
The 2025 ACU British Flattrack Championship reached a thrilling climax on Saturday with the 5th and final round held at Leicester Speedway.
The stacked Pro Class Final saw all of the main championship contenders in good qualifying positions at the conclusion of the heats. Both Tim Neave and Jack Bell, who were holding the top 2 championship positions going into the final, were on the front row where they were joined by former World Cup number 2 and ex-speedway rider Tom Woolley, together with young rising star Thomas Hunt. The other title contender Royal Enfield's Gary Birtwistle was on the 2nd row with some work to do. As the green light went out it was Tom Woolley who got the holeshot and led the pack away showing good speed following his return to Flattrack racing this year. The first few laps were intense with close racing as riders jockeyed for position. As the race developed, it was Tim Neave who quickly made his way to the front and Gary Birtwistle also making some great moves to work his way through to second. Jack Bell was always challenging and battling at the front and worked his way to through to 3rd. Tim continued to turn fast laps and with his super smooth riding style pulled out a small gap on the chasing pack to take the win and with it claim the British Pro Class title, behind him as the race reached it's conclusion it was Gary Birtwistle in 2nd, Jack in 3rd and Thomas Hunt who'd worked his way up to 4th.
We have some super fast ladies in the UK who have performed well over the season both in the Pro and Support Class. For the ACU British Championship, though, they also have their own event and as ever at Leicester it produced some good racing. The experienced Skye Adams took the win on the day completing a clean sweep in the Championship to take the Ladies British Title. Jamie Kimber was second in the final (also making the Pro Final) which was enough to give her 3rd place in the championship final standings. Third place on the day was Chloe Johnson (who was also in great form to take the Pro-Class Support final win) which was just what she needed to secure 2nd place in the Ladies Championship.
Next up it was the turn of the Youth riders. In the Junior class it was Leon Hewson, in his first year of Flattrack racing, who took the win in every round and crowned himself British Champion. His younger brother Freddy took second on the day with his best race of the series which secured him 3rd place in the overall championship. Reuben Hall, who was 3rd on the day reversed the positions with Freddy in the Championship and was runner-up in the title race. In the Youth Inter Class it was Leon Bennett who picked up where he left off last time to take his 4th win on the trot from Joey Birchall and Edward Henfrey who were both making their debut in the ACU British Championship. At the final reckoning though in the British Championship it was the consistent scoring from Cody Asher and Thomas Glossop who took the top spots overall from Leon in 3rd.
The mini-stocks saw the top 3 places again being contested by Tim Greig, Pete Kimber and Layla Simpson. All 3 could still take the title going into the last round and lined up alongside each other on the front row in the final. Tim Greig took the holeshot and a start to finish win and with it took the British Championship, closely followed by Pete and Layla who took the same positions in the overall championship.
The vintage bikes are always well turned out and produced some thrilling action, not least when their final had to be red flagged due to a crash involving the race leaders. The race result was awarded which meant that Aaron Tuttlebee was declared the winner offering some consolation after he was involved in the crash. 2nd on the day was Paul Harrison from Torbjorn Eyre in 3rd. In the final championship standings it was Torbjorn who comfortably came out in top to take the title from Jim Howard and another of our fast ladies Caroline Grace in 3rd on a tie break from Chris Manning who had to settle for 4th.
In the Motocross Class Tim Greig took his fifth win of the series to wrap up a clean sweep of the championship. On the day Jayden Tyler making his debut in the series took second place from Luke Boulter in 3rd which was good enough for him to secure the runner-up position in the championship behind Tim.
The Twins Class produced some of the best racing of the day as top Pro riders Jack Bell and Gary Birtwistle continued their battles at the front of the class. In the final they were separated by only 0.38 seconds as Jack took the win and,with it, the British Title. Jack's team mate, Skye Adams took 3rd place on the day which was enough to secure 2nd place in the championship from Gary and saw the top 2 placings overall going to the Devitt Vanoni Racing Team.
In the Pitbike class Tim Greig and Layla Simpson resumed their battle from the Mini-Stock Class earlier in the day. As the final got underway it was Layla who made the best start from Tim and Nick Thorp. Tim worked hard to find a way past Layla before the flag to secure the win whilst Nick just pipped Sam Heath in a photo finish for third. In the championship overall, Tim Greig completed a clean sweep to take his 3rd British title in this year's series from the consistent Carl Baker who pipped Nick Thorp for the runner-up spot.
This first year of the multi-round ACU Flattrack Championship has been a resounding success and it's been good to see entries increase round on round with riders competing from all over England, Wales and Scotland. The speedway tracks have provided some excellent racing and it establishes a good foundation for an even better series in 2026.
Photo credit James Big Brown Bear Media
Words: Tim Greg